Ramadan Reads: Who Will Help Me Make Iftar?
Ramadan is around the corner, and Ruqaya’s Bookshelf has five titles centred around this special month.
- Who Will Help Me Make Iftar?
- Trouble at Taraweeh
- Rami the Ramadan Cat
- Made from the Same Dough
- There Was an Old Auntie Who Swallowed a Samosa
In this post, we take a closer look at Asmaa Hussein’s Who Will Help Me Make Iftar?
In this story set in Turkiye, Mustafa Amca (pronounced Am-ja) and his wife have a yearly tradition: they cook iftar for their friends and neighbours on the first day of Ramadan.
But this year, Mustafa Amca’s wife is sick and can’t help him cook! He tries to get others to pitch in, but they all make excuses. How will he manage to cook for so many people without help?
This story is modelled on The Little Red Hen, about a hen who asks fellow farm animals to help her make bread from a grain of wheat. In that tale, the animals keep refusing to help, so when the bread is ready to eat, the hen eats it all herself.
However, in Who Will Help Me Make Iftar?, the spirit of Ramadan shines through in the end, in scenes of generosity, forgiveness, and community.
